BICOM

Israel’s prime minister yesterday welcomed the efforts of Egypt’s president to spearhead progress towards peace between Israel and the Palestinians within the context of a wider regional settlement.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was speaking at the residence of Hazem Khairat, Egypt’s Ambassador to Israel, at an event celebrating Egypt’s national day. It was the first time in seven years that Netanyahu had attended the event, at which guests also included Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin and opposition leader Isaac Herzog.

Netanyahu said: “I want to thank [Egyptian] President al-Sisi for his leadership and for his efforts to advance peace between Israel and the Palestinians and in the broader Middle East.”

He added: “We welcome the effort to incorporate other Arab states in this larger effort of a broader peace between all the people of the Middle East.”

Netanyahu also referred to the 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt as an “anchor of stability and security in our region”. He said that the two countries had “made history by showing the world that peace between Arabs and Israel is possible and sustainable”. In his own remarks, President Rivlin called Egypt a strategic partner “in security, commerce, and regional cooperation”.

In May, al-Sisi made a surprising public plea for Israel and the Palestinians to renew peace talks in the context of brokering a wider regional peace, under which an overall rapprochement between Israel and Arab states would likely take place in return for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Netanyahu immediately endorsed al-Sisi’s initiative.

Earlier this month, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry became the first senior Egyptian minister to visit Israel in nine years, meeting with Netanyahu, who reiterated his support for al-Sisi’s plan. Last week, al-Sisi told Egyptian television in a live address that his “serious effort” at furthering talks “aims to break the deadlock that has hung over peace efforts”.